Blake Wood #38

Blake Daniel Wood ... Attended North Gwinnett HS (GA), where he was an All-City selection...Graduated in 2003 ... Played three seasons at Georgia Tech...In 2005 as sophomore, was second-team All-ACC selection after finishing with a 10-1 record...Pre-season All-American in 2006 as junior and helped lead Yellow Jackets to College World Series appearance ... Made each of first 67 professional appearances as a starter before becoming a reliever in 2009 ... Led all Royals minor league pitchers in strikeouts in 2008 ... Brother-in-law Kris Durham played college football at University of Georgia as wide receiver and was fourth round pick in 2011 NFL Draft by Seattle Seahawks...Durham has also played for Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans ... Played in Hawaiian Winter Baseball League following the 2007 season...Played in Arizona Fall League following 2009 season ... Originally signed by Royals scout Spencer Graham.

2017

Began season with Reds and appeared in 55 games with Cincinnati before being designated for assignment on Aug. 23...Claimed off waivers by Angels Aug. 26 ... Set career high with five strikeouts on July 27 at Miami ... Earned win Aug. 26 vs. Houston in Angels debut after tossing one perfect inning with one strikeout…Became third pitcher with a win in Angels debut during 2017 season (also, Parker Bridwell and Troy Scribner) ... Was not charged with a run in 13 of 17 appearances for Angels.

2016

Led the staff with 70 apps and led Reds relievers with 6 wins and 76.2 innings pitched...all were career highs...in the 8-3 loss on 5/20 vs Sea allowed a season-high 4 runs without retiring a batter (2h, 2bb)...his ERA in his other 69 apps was 3.52...3 times inherited the bases loaded and stranded all 9 baserunners (5/17 at Cle, 9/3 vs StL, 9/12 vs Mil)...from 7/23-8/22 collected at least 1 strikeout in a career-high 13 consecutive apps (13.2ip, 21k)...on Opening Day vs Phi pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his Reds debut and earned the 3-2 win on Scott Schebler's 2-run, walkoff double...was his first victory since 8/4/11 for KC vs Bal...on 5/1 at Pit, threw scoreless 10th and 11th innings and earned the victory after Scott Schebler's RBI-double snapped the 5-5 tie...in the 3-1 win on 6/14 at Atl recorded his second Major League save (other, 9-5 Royals win on 8/29/11 at Det)...was his only save of the season...on 6/17 at Hou allowed his first home run (by Carlos Correa) since 8/8/11 for KC at TB (by Casey Kotchman), snapping homerless streaks of 58 games and 63.2 innings...when snapped, by inning was the longest active homerless streak of any pitcher in the Major Leagues...on 9/19 at Cubs allowed a home run to Jason Heyward...was the 242nd HR allowed by the Reds' staff, a new Major League single-season record (241, 1996 Tigers).

2015

Spent the season with the Pirates' Class AAA affiliate at Indianapolis, where he was a mid-season International League All-Star...led the IL in saves (29), games finished (46) and highest strikeouts/9 innings ratio among relievers (10.74)...ranked second in the league in apps (57)...following the season became a minor league free agent...on 11/20 was signed by the Reds to a 1-year Major League contract through the 2016 season.

2014

Made his first Opening Day roster but made only 7 apps for the Indians, all from 4/2-4/19...was optioned to Class AAA Columbus on 4/21...on 6/2 was claimed off waivers by the Royals and was assigned to Class AAA Omaha...also spent time with KC's Class A Wilmington and Class AA Northwest Arksansas affiliates...in 34 apps overall at his 4 minor league stops went 2-2, 4.43.

2013

Spent the first half of 2013 rehabbing back from 2012 reconstructive surgery on his right elbow before being activated and optioned to AAA Columbus on July 14 after being claimed off outright waivers from Kansas City in November...Rehab initially began on May 4 at Akron before soreness in his elbow forced him to shut down for 10 days before giving it a go again on May 15 at Lake County...Persistent soreness in the elbow forced him out another month before going at in earnest in mid-June before his July 14 activation from the 60-day DL...During his tenure with the Columbus Clippers he went 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA (16.2IP, 11H, 4ER, 23K) as he limited Triple-A hitters to a .186 (11-59) average against and fanned 12.4 batters per 9.0IP...Was promoted to Cleveland when rosters expanded on September 1 and made his first Major League appearance since Sept 28, 2011 at Minnesota with KC on Sept 2 vs Baltimore (1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K)...Made one more appearance on Sept. 10 vs. his former club, the Kansas City Royals (0.1IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 1K).

2012

Season never started, as he was limited to just 4 appearances in spring training (3.1IP, 3H, 6R/3ER, 8.10ERA) before being shutdown with nerve irritation and right elbow soreness...Elbow did not respond to treatment and underwent reconstructive right elbow surgery on May 25 by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Anaheim, CA.

2011

Blake made just 3 appearances to open the year at Omaha before being recalled for good on April 14 ... won a career best 5 games in 55 relief appearances. ... Posted a 2-0 record with a 1.82 ERA in 27 home outings ... was just 3-3 with a 5.66 ERA in 28 road contests. ... Was 3-0 with a 2.34 ERA in his first 27 appearances through June 27, then 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA in his final 28 outings.

2010

Blake started the campaign in the Omaha (AAA) bullpen before being recalled on May 11...made his Major League debut the following day vs. Cleveland...had pitched almost exclusively as a starter prior to 2010...Earned his first Major League win on July 30 vs. Baltimore, tossing a scoreless frame prior to Alex Gordon's 3-run walk-off home run to propel KC to the 7-5 victory...Posted a 0.84 ERA (10.2 IP, 1 ER) through his first 10 big league outings, then recorded a 10.06 ERA (17.0 IP, 19 ER) over his next 19 appearances...saw success down the stretch, with a 3.27 ERA (22.0 IP, 8 ER) in his final 22 outings.

2009

Spent a majority of the season at Northwest Arkansas (AA) struggling with injuries...also made 3 appearances (2 starts) for the Surprise Royals on a rehab assignment...Pitched for the Surprise Rafters in the Arizona Fall League following the season, compiling a 1-1 record and a 6.75 ERA in 8 games, including 3 starts.

2008

Entered the 2008 season ranked by Baseball America as the Royals' fourth-best prospect...Paced all Royals minor leaguers with 139 strikeouts in 2008...led the Texas League with 2 shutouts and tied for first with 2 complete games.